The exciting extra-inning matchup where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined over 50 million viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday epic contest drew over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the previous Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two straight years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total American viewership was 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase over last year and Fox’s best playoff performance since 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
